Shelving

ABSTRACT

Shelving consists of at least two juxtaposed shelf units which include frame members, such as vertical posts, of metal profiled sections, together with floor and/or roof members. The shelf units are connected by sheet metal clips whose ends are bent over to engage wedge-shaped converging edges on the sections or floors or roofs, each clip being formed with a bead extending transversely across the clip and projecting on the opposite side to the bent-over ends. The bead is offset from the centre of the clip so that it lies wholly within one of the two shelf units connected by the clip, leaving the other unit clear for accommodating a common side wall extending to the frame members and the roof of the unit. Identical clips are used to connect the posts, which have a G-shaped cross-section, with vertical walls having U-section flanged edges. A rear wall with cranked edges can also be slotted into the apertures in the G-section posts.

United States Patent [191 Hassel et a1.

[ SHELVING [75] inventors: Ernst Hansel, Neunkirehen Salchendorf; Adolf Schmenn, Burbach-Niederdresselndorf, both of Germany [73] Assignee: Fritz Schater, GmbH, Neunkirchen Kreis Siegen, Germany [22] Filed: July 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 163,625

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data July 22, 1970 Germany P 70 27 532.0

[52] US. Cl 108/61, 108/107, 108/111,

- 211/184 [51] Int. Cl. A47b 57/00 [58] Field of Search 108/59-65; 211/11, 184,185, 90, 148; 52/627 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Aug. 28, 1973 2,794,555 6/1957 Schild 108/107 2,827,670 3/1958 Schwindt 3,102,641 9/1963 Konstant... 3,677,202 7/1972 Young 108/111 Primary Examiner-James T. McCall Assistant Erqmirte qlgnn O. Finch AttorneyW0odhams, Blachard & Flynn ABSTRACT Shelving consists of at least two juxtaposed shelf units which include frame members, such as vertical posts, of metal profiled sections, together with floor and/or roof members. The shelf units are connected by sheet metal clips whose ends are bent over to engage wedgeshaped converging edges on the sections or floors or roofs, each clip being formed with a bead extending transversely across the clip and projecting on the opposite side to the bent-over ends. The bead is offset from the centre of the clip so that it lies wholly within one of the two shelf units connected by the clip, leaving the other unit clear for accommodating a common side wall extending to the frame members and the roof of the unit. Identical clips are used to connect the posts, which have a G-shaped cross-section, with vertical walls having U-section flanged edges. A rear wall with cranked edges can also be slotted into the apertures in the G-section posts.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENIEUnucee um I 3.754517 sum 1 or 2 5 M ,6 n'JlHmW IN V EN TOR. [PA/5T #4355 SHELVING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to shelving consisting of at least two juxtaposed shelf units, which include frame members of metal sections and floor and/or roof members, and which are joined together by clips made of sheet metal, the ends of the clips being bent over to engage around wedge-shaped converging edges on the sections or floors or roofs of the shelf units, each clip being provided in the region between the bent-over ends with a bead extending transversely over the clip and projecting on the opposite side to the bent-over ends.

In known shelving of this type the clips are so constructed that the beads are disposed mid-way between the bent-over ends. The beads serve to give the clips the necessary resilience. At the same time the beads serve as a hammering point during the securing of the clips. In known shelving the beads are situated exactly in the plane in which neighbouring shelf units abut. This prevents the provision of shelf walls extending to the posts or to the bottom and top of the shelf units.

. An object of the invention is to provide shelving of the type in question in whichthe clips will not obstruct the fitting of shelf walls.

SUMMARY According to the invention, on each clip the bead is offset in relation to the centre of the clip to such an extent that it lies entirely within one of the two shelf units .connected together by the clip.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The shelving illustrated in FIG. 1 consists of two units la and lb, only part of the shelf unit lb being shown. Shelving could also consist of additional units, while shelf units disposed back to back can also be provided.

Each of the shelf units has a bottom unit 2 and a top unit 3. The bottom unit 2 has a floor 4 on the corners of which upwardly projecting stubs aredisposed. Shelf posts 5 are engaged over these stubs. An intermediate shelf or floor 6 is fastened on the upper end of the posts 5. At its corners this intermediate floor6 has stubs projecting from it on both sides, the downwardly projecting stubs being inserted into the posts 5. Shelf posts 7 are engaged over the upwardly projecting stubs. At the upper ends of the shelf posts there is fastened a shelf top or roof 8, which at its comers is provided with downwardly projecting stubs which are inserted into Through this construction of the clips one of the shelf units joined together by the clips is free of the bead. This makes it possible for two neighbouring shelf units to be provided at theiradjoining sides with a single vertical'wall which is common to both the units and which is disposed on the shelf unit free from beads on the clips, while the edges of said wall extend substantially to the frame members or roof surface of the unit.

Preferably the shelf units include vertical posts and vertical walls, the posts having a cross-section which on one side provides a vertical aperture and an arm parallel to an adjacent one of said walls, at least some of the vertical walls have a U-shaped cross-section in their v itical edge region, and clips identical to those used for'connecting shelf units are engaged on one side in the apertures in the posts and on the other side over the free edges of the U-shaped wall portions to secure the walls to the posts, a wedge-shaped slope being provided on the free edges of the U-shaped wall edge portions. The use of identical clips for securing walls and for connecting shelf units provides a substantial simplification in manufacture and in stockkeeping;

The posts preferably have a G-shaped cross-section. A rear wall disposed on one of said shelf units is preferably cranked on at least one of its vertical edges and the cranked portion engages in the aperture in one of the vertical posts, the inner wall surface lying against the rear edges of intennediate compartment floors.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 shows a shelving which consists of two juxtaposed shelf units,

FIG. 2 is a section on the line lIIl in FIG. 1 on a larger scale compared with FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a section on the line III-III in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 4 is a section on the line lV--IV in FIG. 2.

the post sections.

The cross-section of the posts 5 and 7 can be seen from the section in FIG. 4. These are so-called G- sections. The section has four walls 9, 10, 11 and 12,

the free edge of the wall 9 having a bent-over portion 13 and the free edge of the wall 12 a bent-over portion 14. The wall 12 is shorter than the wall 10, so that the section has an opening 15. I f

The'invention deals with the connection of the juxtaposed shelf units la and lb and with the securing of shelf walls. The connection of the shelf units to'one another will first be described.

For the purpose of connecting the shelf units to one another use is made of spring clips 16 (see FIGS. 2 and 3). These spring clips have bent-over ends 17 which were produced by bending a spring sheet by more than Offset from the centre of each lip there is provided a bead 18, which projects from the plane of the clip in the opposite direction to the bent-over end portions 17. The clips 16 are attached to the shelf tops 8 and/or intermediate floors 6, being applied to the free arms 19 of bent-over portions of U-shaped cross-section on the shelf tops 8. So-called wedge slopes are provided on the bent-over portions, that is to say the edges of the arms 19 are cut away obliquely in relation to their general longitudinal direction in such a manner that the oblique edges converge to such an extent that a distance between the edges enabling the clip to be pushed over them is obtained. The clip is then forced, preferably by hammer blows, in the direction in which the edges inclined in relation to one another diverge, so that the clip is clamped fast.

From FIG. 2 it can be seen that the bead I8 lies entirely within the shelf unit lb, while the shelf unit la is free of the bead 18. This enables a shelf side wall 20 to be brought very close to the shelf top 8 of the shelf unit la. This is possible through the fact that the side wall 20, which is disposed in the region of the shelf unit la free of the bead 18, serves at the same time as side wall for the shelf unit lb. At its vertical edges the side wall 20 is folded over to form a U-shaped cross-section and is there provided with a free arm 21 (FIG. 4) extending parallel to the wall surface. The horizontal edges of the side walls are folded over only once (folded-over por-- edge of the clip 16 (FIG. 4) engages over the foldedover portion 14 of the section wall 12, while the opposite folded-over edge portion in turn acts on a wedge slope cut on the arm 21.

In FIG. 3 it is indicated that a clip 16 (shown in dotted lines) may also be used for joining shelf units standing back to back. The connection is likewise made on the shelf top and/or intermediate floors and in principle is of the same construction as already described in connection with FIG. 2.

Other shelf side walls 21, 22 and 23 FIG. I) are fastened in the same way as described in connection with the side wall 20 Rear shelf walls 24 and 25 are however fastened differently. This fastening will be explained with the example of the rear shelf wall 24 and with the aid of FIGS. 2 to 4.

The rear shelf wall 24 is folded over at its horizontal edges for stiffening purposes in such a manner that, as can be seen from FIG. 3, it has an edge cross-section which is preferably in the form of a triangle 26. The vertical edges of the rear wall are cranked as shown in FIG. 4, so that the edges have a Z-s haped cross-section. The free arm 27 of the bent-over portion projects through the opening 15 into the interior of the shelf post 7. The inner side of the wall 24 lies against the rear edges of intermediate compartment'floors 28, 29. The rear wall is therefore located in the inward direction by these rear edges of the intermediate compartment floors and in the outward direction by the edges 13 of the section walls 9.

As additional shelf equipment there are also shown in FIG. I vertical dividers 30 having bottom lugs which are inserted into slots in the shelf floors and top lugs which are inserted into slots in bent-over portions of the floor above. The intermediate compartment floors 28, 29 or additional intermediate compartment floors are suspended on tongues 31 stamped out of the post sections.

We Claim:

1. In shelving having at least a pair of juxtaposed shelf units, said units each having upright frame members and at least floor and roof members secured to the respective ones of said frame members of each of said units, the improvement comprising:

a plurality of resilient clip means for securing one of said floor and roof members in one of said units to the other of said floor and roof members in a closely adjacent other one of said units, each of said clip means consisting of a pair of flat and coplanar strips of unequal length connected by a bead so that said bead is offsetfrom the center of the combined length of said pair of strips, the ends of strips remote from said bead being bent to form bent-over ends, said bent-over ends of said strips engaging one of said roof and floor members in each of said units to hold said units together and to prevent a separation thereof, said bead being positioned off-set from the parting line between said units.

2. The improvement according to claim 1, including wall means defining a common wall between said pair of units, said wall means being aligned with the frame members in one of said units on a side of said parting line opposite from said bead whereby said wall means are permitted to closely abut the edges of at least one of said floor and said roof of said one unit.

3. The improvement according to claim I, wherein said bent-over ends are bent at an angle greater than and said bead projects from the plane of said strips in a direction opposite to said bent-over ends.

4. The improvement according to claim 2, wherein said upright frame members consist of vertically extending elongated and hollow posts having a vertical aperture therein;

wherein at least one edge of said wall means consists of a U-shaped cross section at least closely adjacent one of said vertical posts, said bent-over ends of said clip means engaging an edge of said vertical aperture and a leg of said U-shaped edge to hold said units together and to prevent a separation thereof.

5. The improvement according to claim 2, wherein edges of said roof and floor members consist of a U- shaped cross section, said U-shaped edges being aligned with at least one of said upright frame members, said bent-over ends engaging an edge of each of the adjacent U-shaped edges of said roof and floor members of said pair of units.

6. The improvement according to claim 4, wherein said vertically extending posts have a G-shaped crosssection.

7. The improvement according to claim 4, including means defining a rear wall and intermediate compartment floors for each of said units, said rear wall being cranked along at least one vertical edge, said vertical edge being received in said vertical aperture while the inner surface of said rear wall lies against the rear edges of said intermediate compartment floors. 

1. In shelving having at least a pair of juxtaposed shelf units, said units each having upright frame members and at least floor and roof members secured to the respective ones of said frame members of each of said units, the improvement comprising: a plurality of resilient clip means for securing one of said floor and roof members in one of said units to the other of said floor and roof members in a closely adjacent other one of said units, each of said clip means consisting of a pair of flat and coplanar strips of unequal length connected by a bead so that said bead is offset from the center of the combined length of said pair of strips, the ends of strips remote from said bead being bent to form bent-over ends, said bent-over ends of said strips engaging one of said roof and floor members in each of said units to hold said units together and to prevent a separation thereof, said bead being positioned offset from the parting line between said units.
 2. The improvement according to claim 1, including wall means defining a common wall between said pair of units, said wall means being aligned with the frame members in one of said units on a side of said parting line opposite from said bead whereby said wall means are permitted to closely abut the edges of at least one of said floor and said roof of said one unit.
 3. The improvement according to claiM 1, wherein said bent-over ends are bent at an angle greater than 90* and said bead projects from the plane of said strips in a direction opposite to said bent-over ends.
 4. The improvement according to claim 2, wherein said upright frame members consist of vertically extending elongated and hollow posts having a vertical aperture therein; wherein at least one edge of said wall means consists of a U-shaped cross section at least closely adjacent one of said vertical posts, said bent-over ends of said clip means engaging an edge of said vertical aperture and a leg of said U-shaped edge to hold said units together and to prevent a separation thereof.
 5. The improvement according to claim 2, wherein edges of said roof and floor members consist of a U-shaped cross section, said U-shaped edges being aligned with at least one of said upright frame members, said bent-over ends engaging an edge of each of the adjacent U-shaped edges of said roof and floor members of said pair of units.
 6. The improvement according to claim 4, wherein said vertically extending posts have a G-shaped cross-section.
 7. The improvement according to claim 4, including means defining a rear wall and intermediate compartment floors for each of said units, said rear wall being cranked along at least one vertical edge, said vertical edge being received in said vertical aperture while the inner surface of said rear wall lies against the rear edges of said intermediate compartment floors. 